A woman professor of the Jawaharlal Nehru University has filed a police complaint against JNUTA president Atul Sood and the JNUSU secretary for allegedly circulating fake news and trying to disturb peace, communal harmony and incite violence and divisiveness on the campus.
Aejaz Ahmed Rather, JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) secretary, claimed that the complainant, Professor Amita Singh of the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, had told him he looked like “a terrorist who has triggered 10 bomb blasts”, on December 26.
In a statement, the JNU Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) had condemned Ms. Singh for her alleged statement and demanded a formal inquiry into the matter.
Mr. Rather said he had submitted a complaint to the Delhi Minorities Commission and the National Commission For Minorities in this regard.
Prof. Singh claimed that Mr. Rather, accompanied by some students, including JNUSU president N. Sai Balaji, protested outside her office on Monday, raising slogans like “Please teach them Lenin, Marx”.
She said before the protest, she had written to the university’s Vice-Chancellor, apprising him of the matter and demanding security.
Prof. Singh also said she had written to the V-C on December 29 against the JNUTA president for “maligning her reputation”.
“Reiterating the hollowed allegation that I called them terrorists or blast convicts when I do not know them at all only shows that this is a well-planned conspiracy to create disturbances, obstruct work and arouse communal passions on the campus, especially by using the ‘Islamophobia’ argument, which is a sensitive issue in this pre-election phase of the capital city,” she had written in the December 29 letter.
After Monday’s protest, Ms. Singh also filed a police complaint in the matter.
Staged protest
Mr. Rather admitted that they staged a protest outside Ms. Singh’s office on Monday, but claimed that no threatening slogan was raised, only slogans like “Inquilab Zindabad”, “Casteism and Islamophobia won’t work in JNU” were shouted.
